Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega star in “Death of a Unicorn.” Credit: A24 via TNS
“Death of a Unicorn,” A24’s latest absurdist horror-comedy, has divided audiences ever since its premiere at South By Southwest film festival March 8.
On paper, it certainly checks all the boxes one would expect from a movie of its genre and A24 archetype, including a stacked cast capable of drawing in audiences on name value alone: Paul Rudd (“Ant-Man”), Jenna Ortega (“Wednesday”) and Will Poulter (“Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3”) all make notable appearances, among others. But the concept of “Death of a Unicorn” is so promising that it was always going to leave a gap between expectations and reality by the time the credits rolled.
In the film, Rudd plays a single father named Elliot who drags his brooding daughter Ridley (Ortega) to the manor of his employer, Odell Leopold (Richard E. Grant), an exorbitantly wealthy and elderly pharmaceutical CEO on his last leg.
During the drive to the manor, Elliot’s plans to curry favor with Leopold take a left turn when they run over a unicorn, whose blood and horn are imbued with mystical healing powers.
Ridley soon becomes the last line of defense against the greed of Leopold’s family — including Will Poulter as the CEO’s tech-bro son, Shepard Leopold — who all want to find and kill the rest of the unicorns to harvest their organs and sell them to their wealthy compatriots as miracle cures.
“Death of a Unicorn” is most enjoyable when it’s not read too deeply as a film attempting to make a nuanced statement on corporate American greed. It’s far from subtle in this regard, trampling audiences with basic political commentary that feels like a baby’s first “Eat The Rich” class awakening.
It doesn’t help that Ortega has been painfully type cast once again as the subordinate, anti-establishment teenager — an archetype audiences and perhaps even herself have been growing increasingly tired of.
Instead, “Death of a Unicorn” is best analyzed through the lens of an elevated horror-comedy with some witty dialogue, especially from Poulter, and some genuinely tense creature-horror scenes.
When older and much scarier-looking unicorns begin to seek revenge on the characters for experimenting on their almost-roadkill child, “Death of a Unicorn” begins to dip its toes into the under-utilized cosmic horror genre, which is the film’s strong point. Though it never gets quite as weird as it had the potential to be, there’s never a dull moment across the movie’s second half.
The creature designs of the unicorns are fascinating, with just enough of a twist on the classic fairy-tale prototype to fit comfortably within the horror genre. And the dynamic between the families — including a delightfully passive-aggressive performance from Téa Leoni as Leopold’s wife Belina — is enough to carry the movie, even in the absence of the unicorns.
“Death of a Unicorn” is reminiscent of 2023’s internet darling “Saltburn” in more than one way; from its upper-class family drama to its shock value and vague political commentary, fans of this subgenre won’t leave the theater feeling disappointed.
“Death of a Unicorn” is a fun hour-and-a-half — carried by a charismatic cast, visually interesting set and captivating creature design — but it might make audiences who wish for a deeper commentary in their movies a bit skittish.
Rating: 3.5/5
